COLUMBIA — University of South Carolina maritime archaeologists are planning to teach students how to dive off the state’s coast and uncover the secrets of an old shipwreck.

Spokeswoman Megan Sexton said Friday’s event in Hilton Head Island featured archaeologist Ashley Deming, who is teaching a sport diver archaeology management course.

The course trains licensed scuba divers to become archaeological eyes and ears as they identify and record valuable information about the shipwreck.

Deming is using sections of a wooden vessel that was beached near Harbour Town Golf Links and has a 10-foot portion that is exposed above water. Sexton said the vessel may be from the Civil War era and has not yet been explored by archaeologists.